


The Hunting Grounds

by SeraphFighter



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Explicit Language, F/M, I'm Bad At Summaries, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers for Side Job: The Hunt (Cyberpunk 2077)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:02:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28689111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeraphFighter/pseuds/SeraphFighter
Summary: "It's just," V takes a drag of her cigarette, "my life feels like it's made up of one fucked up thing after another and it's fucking me up."V reaches her breaking point while helping River in his quest to find Randy. Johnny offers some words of encouragement.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand & Female V, Johnny Silverhand/Female V
Kudos: 74





	The Hunting Grounds

**Author's Note:**

> After playing River's personal quest The Hunt, I couldn't stop thinking about how my V would react to that situation, and in turn how Johnny would react. Thus this was born.

Once the NCPD and Trauma Team arrives, V leaves River with Randy, finds a quiet spot outside behind the barn, falls to her knees and vomits. 

She heaves until her throat burns and her chest aches, trying to expel the images of the horrors inside the barn as well as the contents of her stomach. 

The nausea eventually subsides and V thinks she has herself back under control until she spots the blood mixed in with the bile on the ground before her, and she fucking loses it. 

A harsh sob tears from her throat as she scrambles away from her mess. She slams her back against the wall of the barn and brings her knees up to her chest. Tears stream down her face and blur her vision as her sobs increase in their intensity, making her whole body tremble with the force behind them. She crosses her arms over her knees and buries her face in them in an attempt to muffle the noise and spare her dignity if anyone happens to come upon her. 

The last time she cried this hard was when she had finally gotten a moment alone after Jackie's death, and it had been the first time in as long as she could remember. V prided herself on the fact that she was not a crier. Growing up on the streets had taught her from a young age that showing your emotions made you vulnerable, and in Night City vulnerable was the last thing you wanted to be. In her line of work, emotional is what got you killed. 

Not that she wasn't already dying anyway. 

When her sobs subside into sniffles, she feels Johnny materialize on the ground next to her. Neither of them say anything and she doesn't lift her head from her arms, not wanting him to ridicule her for her moment of weakness. 

"Christ V, who do you think I am? I wouldn't laugh at you for this. That shit in there was...fuck." 

_Oh right, he could tell what she was thinking._

She tentatively lifts her head from the pillow of her arms to look at him. He is seated next to her, legs splayed out in front of him, a cigarette dangling between his lips with his head tilted up towards the sky. 

Johnny continues speaking, "What those boys went through, it's going to take a hell of a lot for them not to succumb to it. That's not shit you can just walk away from." When she doesn't immediately reply, he turns and looked at her. "You alright?"

V wipes her face off on the sleeve of her shirt. Half of her wants to laugh at the question, the other half wants to snap at him for asking it, but she's too tired to do either. "Honestly Johnny? I don't fucking know anymore." 

He hums low in his throat. "You wanna talk about it?"

She scoffs, "What are you, my therapist?" 

Johnny removes the cigarette from his mouth and holds his hands out in front of him, thumbs splayed out as if framing something. "Imagine it: Johnny Silverhand, Ph.D."

V can't help but smile at the ridiculousness of the notion. For being a narcissistic asshole, Johnny had his moments of charm. 

"Okay, Dr. Silverhand, what advice do you have for me?" 

Johnny takes another drag of his cigarette and pretends to contemplate the question. V expects him to give some half-assed answer to go along with the joke, so she is surprised when he nudges his foot against her own and said, "For you to tell me what's eatin' away at your brain." 

"I'm talking to him," V mutters, but he doesn't rise to the bait. He stays silent, puffing on his cigarette as he watches her and waits for her answer. 

Not fully conscious of the action, V pulls out Evelyn's cigarette case and a lighter and brings a cigarette to her lips and lights it. The taste of nicotine doesn't leave her coughing and gagging like it used to; instead she feels the tension in her body start to unwind as it floods her system--an effect of Johnny's engram implanting itself on her psyche, she's sure. 

Johnny doesn't comment on the cigarette, only arches his eyebrow at her as he inhales deeply, the effects of the nicotine translating into his own system. 

If V were to concentrate hard enough, she could feel Johnny's mind within her own. As the days went on his memories and thoughts bled into hers more and more, making it so sometimes she couldn't even distinguish if a thought originated from him or her. He was slowly bleeding into her like oil into water.

She was bothered by it at first, taking the omega blockers as soon as the previous dose had worn off. But she was starting to get used to his company. In a way it was nice to know she wasn't alone, a feeling she had desperately needed after Jackie's death had left her reeling. Johnny's company could even be pleasant when he wasn't being a self-absorbed dick. 

Deep down, the implications of _why_ exactly she didn't mind his presence anymore scare her. 

"It's just," V takes a drag of her cigarette, "my life feels like it's made up of one fucked up thing after another and it's fucking me up." No need to specify what she was referring to; Johnny would know.

He hums again, his foot tapping on the ground. It was a habit of his that he does while he thinks that V had picked up on. "Well, you're definitely fucked up." V glares at him and is about to snap at him before he holds his hand up, a signal for her to wait. "But this entire goddamn city is. That's what it does; it fucks people up. But what matters is if you let it get to you. I did, but you can be better than that." 

The sincerity of his words touches her, but she can't stop herself from saying, "That's a bold claim when your conscious is bleeding into mine." 

Johnny chuckles and snuffs his cigarette out on the ground. "Touché, but I don't think I've completely ruined you yet."

V holds up her own cigarette. "Then how do you explain this?" 

Johnny shrugs. "You could be doing worse. You could be lighting up a nuke at Arasaka right about now." 

She quietly laughs. "Fair point." A mix of his hatred and regret at the mention of the bombing touches the back of her mind, but she doesn't comment on it. She doesn't have the energy to be his therapist for the night. 

The comfortable silence that falls between them is interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. V snuffs out her cigarette and looks up as River approaches. 

"Hey, there you are." His smile is the most genuine one she has seen from him in the past two days, but she still senses the weariness radiating off of him. "Who were you talking to?" 

_Shit._ She hadn't realized she had been speaking aloud to Johnny, something she usually only did when they weren't in public. She must've been even more frazzled than she thought. 

She purposely doesn't look at the rocker still sitting next to her and dismissively waves her hand. "I was on the phone with a fixer about a potential job," she lies. "How's Randy?"

"As good as he can be. He's not awake yet, Trauma says he's a little malnourished and dehydrated, but he'll pull through." 

V nods, relieved. "Good, I'm glad to hear it." 

"Are you alright? You look...worn down," River's voice is concerned as he takes in her disheveled appearance. 

She dismisses him again. "It's just been a long night, I'm sure you can understand." 

River seems to buy it, chuckling tiredly. "Yeah, that is has been." He kicksat the ground and looks back toward the front of the barn, "I ought to get back to Randy. You should grab something to eat, Trauma set up some coffee and bagels up front." 

V doesn't think she could stomach anything quite yet, but she still says, "Thanks, I will. I'll be up there in a sec, just need a couple of more quiet moments before the NCPD drills me." 

"I don't blame you," he pauses as if uncertain about what to say next, "I'll uh, check in again later." 

"Sounds good." V offers a small wave as River gives her one more lingering look before walking off. 

Once he's out of sight, Johnny speaks up, "He totally wants to fuck you." 

V shoves his shoulder, "Fuck off." River was a nice enough guy, but she knows she can't be the type of woman someone like him needed. Besides, she doesn't have a lot of room to think about romance when she was trying to solve the problem of the Relic eating away at her brain. 

Johnny laughs and stands up, dusting off his ridiculous leather pants. "Don't get mad at me princess, I'm just pointing out the obvious." 

"If it's so obvious you don't need to point it out," she retorts. 

"I dunno, you're pretty fuckin' dense sometimes." V kicks out at his leg, which he easily sidesteps with a shit-eating grin. He holds his metal hand out to her and jerks his head toward the front of the barn, "Now how about some of that coffee? My mouth still tastes like puke." 

V rolls her eyes but accepts his hand anyway, allowing him to pull her up off of the ground. "Fine, but I'm not drinking it black so don't even ask." 

Johnny's overdramatic groan in response brings a smile to her face for the first time that night. 

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: @seraphfighter 
> 
> Feel free to come by and say hi!


End file.
